Exposing Filthy Tenants

How landlords are fighting back against the world's grosses tenants!

Sometimes tenants really don’t care about maintaining the condition of a property, as some landlords have found out the hard way. A new Facebook page called Disgusting Renters is allowing landlords to fight back against filthy tenants and vent frustrations over renters who leave their properties in poor condition.

The site was created by Craig Morgan after the mobile home that he and his wife rented out had been trashed by the family renting it. The home was littered with trash and pet urine and feces. The flea-invested home had to be gutted and was sold at a $25,000 loss.

The Disgusting Renters Facebook page is filled with similar stories and horrifying photos. But how can you avoid these nightmare tenants ending up in your property?

If you end up with a tenant who is destroying your property, you should try to get them out as soon as possible. The longer a problem goes unattended, the more it will cost to fix it. Getting rid of problem tenants can be lengthy and expensive. Eviction is an option, but it takes time, costs money, and often requires evidence. You can also file a small claims court lawsuit to recover damages, but it’s often difficult to get payment from tenants who have no assets.

In the worst-case scenarios, landlords should consider offering cash – at least one month’s rent – to get the hell out. If your tenants seem really shady, you may even add a cash bonus if the renters don’t do any further damage, such as flushing concrete down the toilet (true story!).

A good screening process is vital when offering up your property as a rental. It’s unlikely you will get to see how your tenant lives before they move in, so it is important to get references and call past landlords to see if a tenant has a history of rental problems. A background and credit check will also give you valuable information about their public record and financial situation.

If everything checks out and you sign a lease with a tenant, be sure to visit the property regularly to make sure the property is being taken care of. Make sure trash is not piling up which can lead to infestation. For extra peace of mind, require a housekeeper to clean the home on a regular basis and work that into the rental agreement.

13 Comments

WOW! I dont disagree with this though. Homeowners have to spend, sometimes thousands, to clean up a dirty house like this, just for them to be able to re-rent it. Why should they have to pay that? Especially knowing the tenant is going to get away with it. On another note, the picture is absolutely disgusting! I don’t understand how people can be okay like this.

Those are people who had never been taught to clean their rooms ever in their life, their parents are somehow guilty for that, but that’s definitely not the case here, the homeowner did the right thing for sure.

I agree with you. The landlord will be devastated by the looks of his business. It is weakening and disgusting to see your property wasted by filthy tenants. Maybe the landlords can sue this kind of boarders.

Just wondering if the landlord did not require some security deposit that should have been applied in cases of gross negligence by the tenant. Serves them right to be featured on a Facebook page like that, but would that be punitive enough for irresponsible tenants? Can’t the tenant get back at the landlord legally? I wonder…

This kind of situation for landlords is their worst nightmare. The landlord should include guidelines in the contract of occupancy. Stating that the property must be maintaned clean and wreck or damage free and if violated by the tenant, the tenant can be kicked out of the house and charged for the damaged done.

I cannot even tell you how many tenants we had that have completely destroyed our trailer! We’ve gone through maybe five tenants in the last seven years are so, and many of them were disagreeable and rude! Many either did not pay the rent or pay the rent on time. We’ve had to evict four of them, and the fifth one is currently making payments, but very late ones. On top of that, we would get calls from his neighbors, because he would stay up every night until the wee hours in the morning blasting music! He also was just recently charged for a drug crime. It’s SO important to screen your tenants. I’m so glad that homeowners are fighting back at lousy tenants!

My goodness, what a nightmare! I was thinking about renting out my mother’s mobile home after she passed but all the people who answered the ad looked shady! One lady actually smoked a cigarette while I was showing her outside! Then she threw the butt on the ground and smashed it with her foot – on my driveway!!! I didn’t even bother running her credit report. We ended up renting it out to a family member for a year then we sold it – to the family member.

homebuddy makes a really good point about a deposit. In the case of serious hoarding, it may not be enough to cover the damage, but it is certainly better than nothing. Also, sometimes asking renters to give a deposit (perhaps paid in installments for lower income renters) is an incentive for people to take good care of the property in hopes of getting it back. I used to live near a college, and some of the less responsible, party-oriented students would trash a property before they moved out and just leave their stuff there. It really is all about screening people and knowing what you’re getting into.

I agree to that terms. Asking for deposits for the rent is an assurance of good intentions and see if the renter or tenant is a good payer of rent in the coming months. Maybe the landlord can only visit once every month and with a given notice to the tenant. The landlord should inform the tenant for a visit and not visit whenever they want to give privacy to the tenant.

Well now that’s all kinds of frightening to me, and for a good reason. 🙂 I have been discussing maybe starting to get into some rental properties with my husband. It sounded kind of exciting, but I’m not sure sure after reading this. hehe Just kidding, but it definitely gives me something to think about.

I think my biggest problem would be detection. When we were renting, I absolutely hated when a landlord would just pop in any time he wanted to and I knew it was so he could snoop around. There was nothing I needed to keep private or hide, but it really did feel like an invasion into my domain. I’m not sure I could do that do a renter knowing how much I hated it, but otherwise I’d never know if there would be a problem.

My best friend has some prime real estate in Washington D.C. but since he doesn’t live there any longer, he has a property manager taking care of all this “dirty work.” Maybe that would be a way I’d feel more comfortable getting into rental real estate… worth considering!

I agree that there should be a dedicated and agreed time of inspection visit of the landlord. The tenant can feel secured and assured that the landlord do not violate any right to privacy. It should be included in the MOA and contract.

That’s just gross and people like that should definitely get exposed for that they do. How can you even live like this? and secondly, how can you destroy somebody else’s apartment/property without even having any bad feelings about it? Mind-blowing.

After reading this article, I have to admit I feel very lucky that I’m not renting out any properties. It always seemed like a lot of effort to me and a lot of responsibility/extra stress. You will always get blamed since you are the owner.

I agree that a reference system is crucial in recognizing the ”good” tenants from the ”bad” ones. Landlords have to help each other out.

A filthy tenant is the worst nightmare of land owners. The landlords must be very meticulous in choosing its tenants. Another problem for landlords is tenants who do not pay on time or do not pay at all.